UMass Chan Medical School chancellor search committee established to lead national search for new chancellor

BOSTON – A distinguished and broadly representative group of health care professionals, UMass faculty, business leaders, community stakeholders, and alumni, have been appointed by UMass Board of Trustees Chairman Stephen Karam and UMass President Marty Meehan to lead a comprehensive search for the next chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School.

UMass Trustee David Brunelle, a Worcester area resident and co-founder and managing director of North Pointe Wealth Management, agreed to chair the search committee. The 20-member committee will hold its first public meeting today, September 17, 2025 at 3 pm.

The search committee will seek input from a wide range of university stakeholders, including community leaders, students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the coming months. The committee will develop a competitive pool of candidates to submit to President Meehan, who will then make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

UMass Chan is a world-class medical school and research institution, which counts two Nobel laureates among its faculty; attracts more than $350 million annually in research funding; and consistently produces notable advances in clinical and basic research. The next chancellor will succeed Dr. Michael Collins, who announced in June he will step down from his role at the end of this academic year after serving as chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School for nearly 20 years.

“UMass Chan is a world-renowned public medical school and research institution dedicated to advancing scientific understanding and discovery. For nearly two decades, Chancellor Michael Collins has skillfully led our state’s only public medical school,” University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan said. “In that time, UMass Chan became a world-class academic health sciences center that attracts students and researchers from around the world. We are grateful to the search committee and Chair David Brunelle for agreeing to lead the search committee’s work. I am confident that Chair Brunelle will lead a search that is exhaustive, inclusive, and ultimately identifies a competitive pool of finalists.”

The search committee includes department chairs from UMass Chan Medical School, faculty members, senior university leaders, members of the business community, healthcare professionals, UMass Chan alumni, UMass Trustees, and community stakeholders.

“The search committee is made up of an impressive group of individuals who care deeply about the future of UMass Chan,” said UMass Board of Trustees Chair Stephen Karam, an ex-officio member of the search committee. “I am confident their diverse experiences and viewpoints will result in a successful search, and I am excited to see the high caliber of candidates the committee will bring forward.”

“I am honored to serve as the search committee chair and look forward to working with my fellow committee members and the UMass Chan community to identify an outstanding pool of candidates for the chancellorship,” said David Brunelle, search committee chair and UMass Trustee. “The Medical School provides a critical public service in education and research that benefits the Commonwealth and the nation. It is crucial that we identify candidates who can lead this incredible institution into the future."

The UMass Chan Medical School Search Committee members are:

• Chair: David M. Brunelle - Trustee, UMass Board of Trustees
• Rita K. Amoah, RN, PhD ’21 - Assistant Professor
• Bethany Berry - MD/PhD Candidate; UMass Chan Student Trustee
• Mary Burns, UMass Lowell ’84 - Vice Chair, UMass Board of Trustees; Chair, UMass Building Authority Board
• Katherine Craven - Executive Vice President, Administration and Finance, Babson College; Director, UMass Foundation Board of Directors; Chair, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Edward H. D’Alelio, UMass Boston ’74 - Treasurer & Investment Committee Chair, University of Massachusetts Foundation
• Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD - Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Medicine; Vice Provost for Basic Science Research; Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair III
• James R. Julian, Jr, JD - CEO, University of Massachusetts Foundation
• Katherine Luzuriaga, MD - UMass Memorial Health Care Endowed Chair in Biomedical Research; - Vice Provost for Research
• Justin A. Maykel, MD - Joseph M. Streeter and Mary Streeter DeFeudis Chair of Surgery; Professor of Surgery; Chief, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery
• Craig C. Mello, PhD - Distinguished Professor; Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine; 2006 Nobel laureate
• Timothy P. Murray, JD - Former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts; President and CEO, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Noreen C. Okwara, UMass Boston ’12, MD ’17 - UMass Board of Trustees
• R. Norman Peters, JD, ’04 (H) - Partner, Peters & Sowydra; Director, UMass Foundation Board of Directors; Member, UMass Building Authority Board
• Karyn Polito, JD - Former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts; Vice President of Business Development, UMass Memorial Health
• Javier A. Reyes, PhD - Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Michael P. Stauff, MD - Chair, Department of Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation; Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Endowed Chair in Orthopedics; Associate Professor of Orthopedics
• A.J. Marian Walhout, PhD - Professor and Chair, Department of Systems Biology; Maroun Semaan Chair in Biomedical Research
• Marcellette G. Williams, PhD - UMass Amherst Chancellor Emerita; Retired Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the UMass President’s Office
• Charles F. Wu - Trustee, UMass Board of Trustees; Member, UMass Building Authority Board

*Stephen R. Karam, ex-officio
Chair, UMass Board of Trustees

UMass Chan is perennially ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best medical schools in the nation for primary care education and has ranked in the top three in the U.S. in licensing and intellectual property revenue among U.S. universities. Research expenditures at UMass Chan Medical School have increased significantly, from $157 million in Fiscal Year 2007 to $350 million in Fiscal Year 2024. UMass Chan is home to three graduate schools with 1,500 students.

National executive search firm Isaacson, Miller will assist with the Committee’s work and the search process. Updates on the search and opportunities for feedback through the process will be available on the search committee’s website at www.umassp.edu/chancellorsearch.

About UMass Chan Medical School

UMass Chan Medical School, one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system, comprises the T.H. Chan School of Medicine; the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; ForHealth Consulting at UMass Chan Medical School, a public service health care consulting division; and MassBiologics, the only nonprofit, FDA-licensed manufacturer of vaccines, biologics and viral vector gene therapies in the United States; and a thriving Nobel-Prize-winning biomedical research enterprise.

UMass Chan is advancing together to improve the health and wellness of diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery and public service. UMass Chan has built a reputation as a world-class destination for biomedical research. It is ranked among the best medical schools in the nation for primary care education and biomedical research by U.S. News & World Report. In 2021, the Medical School received a $175 million gift from The Morningside Foundation and was renamed UMass Chan Medical School. Learn more at www.umassmed.edu.